Went this weekend to the only concentration camp found in France - Natzweiler-Struthof, which is about 40 kilometers south of Strasbourg in the mountains of the Vosges. It was not an extermination camp (like Birkenau), as much as it was a political prisoner camp like Dachau. Basically the Germans used this camp to eliminate the french resistance, various political prisoners, etc. Like all ironies in life, this place used to be a famous ski resort.The french have opened a new museum on the grounds, and for someone who has been to the major concentration camps (Auschwitz, Dachau, etc.), this was probably the best I have seen. Very complete and informative.
The camp itself was burned down by Neo-Nazis a few years ago, but they have rebuilt some of the barracks to give visitors an idea of what the camp was like. Of course, that is truly impossible to understand what an hour (much less a day) would have been like; but you do get an understanding how so many people went along with the Nazi regime. Basically not agreeing to join the Hitler Youth movement had you sent to this camp for a year. And nothing reminded you to tow the line better than when someone actually came back home from this place.
